


Found at the Swamp

by extra_Mt



Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Coven
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-26 12:13:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18716845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/extra_Mt/pseuds/extra_Mt
Summary: Cordelia gets lost in the swamp, and Misty finds her





	1. Chapter 1

Cordelia gritted her teeth as she went over her life to figure out when it'd turned upside down. Why she had thought it was a good idea to come to the marsh was a mystery even to herself. She needed the swamp mud. 

But was it the true and only reason, or wat there something else that only her subconscious knew? She felt a pull in her heart, she was reluctant to admit. It was such a strange feeling that she wasn't sure whether or not to ignore it. 

With her mother Fiona, the reigning Supreme, trying to annihilate every girl who had potential to become the next Supreme, the headmistress of the coven had too much to deal with. She really shouldn't be letting the invisible hand guide her. And yet here she was, walking through the swamp with no destination. Oh she really regretted her life choices.

The place itself wasn't all that bad. What with the swamp water carrying cool air, it could be a more comfortable place than the concrete jungle of New Orleans. But it was her shoes that never stopped setting her teeth on edge. The heels, though they were considerably low, kept digging into the muddy ground with every step she took.

"This godforsaken place," the blonde woman mumbled to no one in particular. Her brows were knotted together in irritation, her shoes getting heavier by the second.

Just as she put her foot on a wet root of a tree, she wobbled. Her hand grabbed the air in a desperate attempt, but she was defeated by gravity. She remembered the dull pain and the hollow sound when her temple hit the tree. Was it the old tree or her skull that made the sound? It would never be known. The rest was consumed by darkness, like a computer going off to sleep.

...

When the alchemist opened her eyes, there was no longer the cerulean sky above her. Instead, moss spots in a wooden ceiling were looking back at her. The sunlight crept through the gaps everywhere, making her narrow her brown eyes.

"Fuck," Cordelia said in a whisper as her hand covered the injured part of her head. 

The pain was bearable. She'd been through worse. There was only a lump. No blood at all. Stitches wouldn't be necessary.

Getting up from the bed, the woman observed the room. It was no bigger than her bedroom at the academy, just a shack made of plain wood. Who had carried her here? There were shawls hanging from the walls, a large tin bowl filled with water, and a yellow cassette player neatly placed on the nightstand. Someone lived there, Cordelia could gather as much.

Suddenly there was a movement behind her, and a sound akin to a growl. A yelp jumped out of her throat when she was met with a boy –or something else that resembled a boy– lying on the other side of the bed.

The boy stared at the blonde woman blankly, his mouth slightly agape, his eyes so hollow Cordelia thought he might be blind. The two of them had a staring contest for a couple of seconds. The creature with blond curls moved his attention back to the ceiling, and Cordelia finally let her eyes wander over his body. 

Never in her magic-filled life had she seen such a creature. The stitches all over his body –they weren't nicely done to say the least– seemed still fresh. The more terrifying and bizarre was that there seemed to be no sign of pain or agony on the boy's face. It was blank. A marble statue could have a more colorful expression than he did.

The woman regretted her life choices for the second time that day. This situation reminded her of an episode of Criminal Minds. She'd never watched the show but she was sure they had an episode or three with mad scientists obsessed with some crazy stuff. Crazy stuff like creating a Frankenstein boy.

Her feeble heart almost stopped at the footsteps coming from outside. She grabbed a nearby flower vase, hoping it would be an effective weapon. Was the serial killer/Dr. Frankenstein coming back to his secret place? What if it was the police looking for her (and the poor Frankenstein boy)?

Cordelia scared the crap out of the wild blonde for certain. Misty had just come back from collecting mud for Kyle, only to be welcomed by the older woman, who clearly had the intention to attack her.

The swamp witch would have had the time to wonder how the other had felt the need to be armed. The neatly-dressed woman didn't look dangerous at all when she was unconscious. But the second her blue eyes caught the vase held in the woman's hands, the only thing Misty could do was to guard herself. She waved her hand before her face, and the flower vase flew out of Cordelia's grip, shattering into pieces against the wall. The candles around them lit by themselves at the same time.

"Oh, Lord, I didn't know I could do that," the Cajun girl murmured in amusement, her eyes big and wide.

The sense of danger had awakened the powers she hadn't even known of. 

 _But wait_ , Misty thought. Her power was exactly why she'd gotten herself killed in the first place. And now another person had witnessed the magic. For god's sake, she couldn't die for the second time. 

"Shit."

"I know you," the blonde woman said. "You are Misty Day. You were set on fire and left for dead."

At that, the wild blonde took a step back, more cautious than ever. The hair at the back of her head stood up, like a tail of a roused feline. If this person was a hitman that the village people had hired, Misty would have to fight. 

"How do you know 'bout me?"

"Oh, sorry." The older woman smiled. Her posture had softened. "I'm Cordelia Goode. I run an academy in town. It's--"

"You are  _the_  Miss Cordelia," the Cajun girl cut her off. She remembered the conversation with Zoe. The power of resurgence, the young brunette had told her.

There was slight surprise on the headmistress's face. Her demeanor had softened even more. The more she talked to the younger blonde, the safer she felt. Cordelia wondered if it was another power of the wild blonde. 

"…and how did  _you_  know about me?"

"I know Zoe. I'm her friend, I think… You see that boy over there?" Misty gestured at Kyle with her chin. "He's hers. I'm… waitin' for her to come back, I guess."

"Oh-- and I suppose you saved me, too?"

The alchemist was answered with a nonchalant shrug. "It's kinda hard ta ignore an unconscious woman lyin' on the ground. It's not the safest place on earth."

The response earned a delicate chuckle from the older woman. "Well, thank you. I'm so relieved you found me before alligators decided to have me for lunch."

Misty gave her a reserved smile. There was something about the woman that made the Cajun nervous. It could be her mannerism that Misty lacked, or it might be the light the older blonde radiated. Something she'd never felt or seen before. The wild blonde was suddenly aware of how messy her place was.

 _She must think I'm such a hobo,_  Misty thought.

The silence was broken by a groan from the half-dead boy in the bed. Both of the women observed him as he struggled to get up. The swamp witch let out a sigh, walking toward him.

"I should go back," Cordelia uttered to her back, slight hesitation woven into her voice. "The girls must be wondering where I am."

The older blonde regretted saying this immediately when the blue eyes looked back at her. Until now, Cordelia had never known sorrow could have such a violent color. It was eating the Cajun up. Had Cordelia had a special sight, she could have seen the girl's heart slowly, but surely, crumbling down. Even without such a sight, it pained the older witch enough.

Misty attempted to smile, only to end up with a stiff lopsided smile. She hoped the other woman couldn't see the quivering of her lips. "That's a shame. I was hopin' you'd stay for dinner."

"I will come back. I promise."

"That's what Zoe said. That's what everyone said." The younger blonde wiped her nose with the back of her hand. Tears threatened to fall down her cheek, and Kyle watched her with his curious eyes. She couldn't bring herself to look at Cordelia. "Nobody ever came back."

"Hey." Cordelia put her hand on her arm, gently making her turn around.

Misty wore misery and loneliness too well, Cordelia thought. It was like looking at herself in a mirror. 

"Take my hand."

The swamp witch raised her gaze, confused by the request. Her eyes travelled between Cordelia's face and the extended hand. Hesitance tugging at the corner of her heart, Misty took it with both of her hands.

It felt right, she didn't know why. The delicate hand of the headmistress radiated warmth between her dirt-covered hands. It felt like coming home. The wild blonde stared at their hands in awe, her attention shifting to the other woman's face.

Cordelia looked at her, hoping this was enough to make the younger girl understand. She knew words meant nothing to the wild blonde anymore. Having a mother like Fiona, the older blonde knew how it felt to have so many broken promises, painfully so.

"If no one ever came back for you, I'll be your first. I just need you to believe me. Can you do that?"

Misty nodded, overwhelmed by everything that was Cordelia. Her face flushed when those soft hands caressed hers.

On the spur of the moment, the alchemist brought their connected hands to her lips, planting a kiss on the back of the girl's hand. It was supposed to be a friendly gesture, a quite innocent one like when people kiss their pets. But it earned a suppressed gasp from the Cajun, which caused Cordelia's heart to skip a beat in return.

...

The older woman left the shack, letting go of Misty's hands. The blue eyes watched her figure until it disappeared among the trees.

Her heart was pounding, the skin where the woman had pressed her lips burned, she didn't know why. She walked to her collection of shawls and wrapped one around her shoulders. She twirled, to calm her heart, to forget about those brown eyes that could penetrate her soul.

How was it possible, after all these years of broken promises and disappointment, that she still wanted to believe the older woman? It would break her heart completely, if Cordelia would never come back again, if she turned out to be just the same as everyone else in Misty's life. She couldn't possibly risk that by getting her hopes up. 

But dear god, it was hard to get rid of those brown eyes from her head. She twirled. Her heart pounded even harder, as if trying to jump out of her ribcage.

 

_When you look at me with those brown eyes_

_What do you want to say?_

_And are you just another liar?_

_Will you take me all the way, all the way?_

 


	2. Power of Enchantment

_You look at me with those brown eyes_

_What do you want to do?_

_Do you have to have me?_

_The way that I want you, I want you?_

 

The wind carried the voice of the unknown through the swamp and made the words dance with the golden hair of Cordelia. Her nerves were buzzing in frustration. In theory, even the slightest things could cause her to erupt or have a breakdown now.

It'd been nearly an hour since she'd set foot in the marsh, and all she had come across so far was a horizon of water and a flock of birds resting on alligators. She pinched the bridge of her nose. At this rate, the sun would say goodbye to the swamp in no time and Cordelia would be left in the dark before she could ever have a glimpse of the place she was searching for.

It had been too long. She had made a promise.

The girl in the swamp... with her untamed curls and ocean eyes. Even with all the insane stuff happening around her -Fiona's unexpected return, Zoe's poor coping skills, Madison's sociopathic behavior- the mysterious girl had never left the blonde woman's mind. Every day, every minute since their encounter, Cordelia had wished for an opportunity to go back to the place, just so she could hear the raspy voice of Misty Day.

But given the current situation, she might have to give up and get out of the swamp soon, if she ever could get out, that is. It was a hard reality that the alchemist was refusing to admit, but she wasn't sure where she was.

A frustrated groan escaped the back of her throat. Her feet carried her body in a manner reflective of her heavy heart, until they froze in the place.

Before her crawled one giant alligator, its yellow eyes glimmering as it came closer. Cordelia, while keeping her eyes on the creature, took a step back, only to have her foot caught in the muddy ground. Losing the balance, she took a sharp intake of breath, her eyes shut close. Seconds ticked, but her body didn't touch the ground in spite of her fear. Instead, there were strong arms around her, keeping her dress free of mud stains.

"You sure fall an awful lot. Is that yer hobby or somethin'?" Misty's drawl had no hint of sarcasm or cruel mockery as she stared down at the older woman in fascination. "What are ya doin' here? This part of the swamp is particularly dangerous, you know?"

Getting on her feet, Cordelia replied with a coy smile. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the scaled creature retreating to the water, as though it was awed by the girl's aura. 

In fact, the air around the wild blonde felt different than when they were in the old shack, the alchemist recognized. The untamed curls glowed under the sun, radiating some sort of royal vim that made the trees and the water vibrate. Yet, there was this gentleness co-residing in the aura. 

Cordelia wasn't wrong about the girl. Misty Day was the queen of the swamp land.

"I was looking for your house," the older blonde said. "I promised I'd come back, didn't I?"

"My shack is on the opposite side of the swamp."

"Oh--"

Misty let out mischievous giggles at her, who was too mortified to look up. Her heart fluttered, not just because of the woman's wicked sense of direction, but also because she  _really_  came back. No one had ever bothered, except for Cordelia. The pair of blue eyes looked into the brown ones, the eyes that the wild blonde had dreamed of seeing again.

"Let's go." The necromancer took her hand, which triggered a surprised, baffled expression from the other. "Just so you wouldn't fall again."

The quip earned a light slap on her shoulder, but Cordelia didn't try to be let go. They walked through the marsh, enjoying the warmth of each other's hands, occasionally falling into a fit of giggles when the older woman slipped on mud. Misty sometimes would look ahead in order to hide her enormous grin from the woman. Cordelia, on the other hand, wasn't so skilled at keeping her blush at bay every time those magnetic eyes smiled at her.

When they arrived at their destination, the shorter woman couldn't help but gasp at the beauty of it. Her greenhouse at the academy didn't compare. Everything, from the rusty watering can haphazardly left on the ground to the bicycle that had been transformed into flower pots, was so uniquely Misty.

Cordelia, so impressed and utterly charmed by the garden, failed to notice the little bump of dirt at her feet, and when something grabbed her ankle, her heart nearly froze. Quickly looking down, she saw a hand, a human hand, sticking out of the dirt mountain. The yelp died in her throat as she screamed inaudibly.

"Careful! She ain't fully recovered yet." The younger blonde pulled her in, the cerulean eyes focused on the ground.

"She? What?" The neat brows knotted together, and the alchemist gaped at the girl's profile in disbelief. "Please don't tell me you have a person buried in your garden."

"She was going to die." The wild blonde shrugged nonchalantly before walking away.

With her tiny heart still pounding in dread, Cordelia looked down again. The hand -whoever it belonged to- had retreated into the ground, leaving only a small hole in it.

_Calm yourself,_  the woman told herself.

As terrifying as it seemed, the girl was a good witch, the only person with the power of resurgence as far as Cordelia knew. Burying an injured being must be her method of healing.

But Cordelia might have to lecture her about adequate communication. The lack of detailed explanation caused the necromancer to sound like a creep. To a person who didn't know about her power, it might have sounded like she'd dug a hole  _because_  the injury of the person was hopeless. The headmistress of the coven smiled despite herself as she remembered the first time she'd met Misty, when she had initially suspected the girl might be a serial killer.

Following the wild blonde, Cordelia stepped into the old hut, soon welcomed by the bleakness of it. Some posters and shawls decorated the wooden walls, but there was this melancholic air occupying every inch of the place.

_How long has she lived here?_  the woman wondered silently as her brown eyes examined the room.

On the nightstand beside the humble bed, Cordelia found a yellow broken cassette player, missing a few buttons, black films of a cassette spilling out in shambles.

"Don't touch that--" The taller blonde stopped Cordelia's reaching hand. Their eyes met, and Misty was quick to look away. "… please."

"What happened?"

After a much loaded pause, the necromancer mumbled. "Kyle broke it."

The violent turmoil of sadness returned to the ocean eyes, and Cordelia felt a pain in the chest. She had noticed the absence of the Frankenstein boy, the one with stitched limbs and hollow eyes.

"Where-- where did he go?"

"Zoe took him. I don't know where."

A silence surrounded them, with Cordelia unsure of how to comfort the girl. Although it was unclear why the cassette player was so important to the younger blonde, the headmistress could sense the grief in her cracked voice.

Taking a breath in an attempt to break the stifling air, Misty forced a smile. Losing Stevie was surely devastating, but she couldn't waste this moment crying over the inanimate friend. Not now that the woman was standing in front of her, with those sweet brown eyes that somehow seemed more enigmatic than the ones in her dreams.

"So, how long can ya stay this time?" The taller blonde bit her lip as her heart skipped a beat every so often.

"I don't know," Cordelia answered, her forehead creased slightly, her eyes flicking to the dark orange sky outside the door. "I don't have any specific time, but it's already getting dark… An hour, perhaps?"

"Oh."

It was like her heart turned into a chunk of metal inside her ribcage all of a sudden. In the back of her mind, Misty pondered why this woman could so easily affect her heart. Sure, she'd always wanted a companion, someone to share the solitude and count the stars with. But Cordelia had such a mysterious, great power, which drew the wild blonde like a magnet. The more time she spent with the older blonde, the more Misty desired.

"But you know," seeing the golden untamed strands losing their gleams, Cordelia quickly added. "if you teach me how to find this place without getting lost, I can spend more time here next time."

"Next time?" The necromancer raised her gaze, breaking into a huge grin when the older woman gave her a nod. 

Cordelia's hands encompassed the dirt-covered ones of the girl, and Misty felt heat creep up her neck. 

_Next time… so, this means she's coming back again…_

"Yeah, I like the sound o' that."

After sharing another smile, the wild blonde let go of her hands and went to make tea. Taking an advantage of the comfortable silence, Cordelia's eyes roamed yet again. 

A small, but genuine smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she stood in front of one giant poster. She reveled in the quiet hums of the younger woman, fully unaware of the fact that it was the song Misty always hummed when thinking of her.

"You like Fleetwood Mac?"

The taller blonde turned her head around. "Like?" She scrunched her nose up. "I love 'em! Stevie Nicks! She's my hero."

Gentle chuckles escaped Cordelia's plump lips. She could see the sparkles in those blue eyes as Misty walked closer, sandwiching the woman between her and the poster of her savior, Stevie Nicks.

"Do you like Stevie Nicks?" the wild blonde drawled, taking a sip from her cup, eyes never leaving the alchemist.

Cordelia answered with a nod, though she didn't tell her the entire story, that Fiona and Stevie were close friends and the white witch had visited the coven a few times before. How would the wild blonde react if she learned the truth? Cordelia couldn't help grinning like a child at the thought. If it meant she could send Misty over the moon, Cordelia wouldn't think twice about asking her mother a favor. It'd be worth it.

They chatted a little more. Most of their shared moments were filled with amused giggles and innocent touch. But every once in a while, the air would become thick with something less pure, and leave the two of them utterly transfixed. Flames of longing and desire lit the irises of Misty's eyes, smoldering in multiple hues. And the brown eyes would burn with the same intensity as their slender fingers laced together.

The younger witch, by this point, was totally certain that this was Cordelia's witchy power, to mesmerize people with just a look, with a simple glint of her eyes. Otherwise, how would they explain the heat in her chest, urging the heart to beat faster and faster? 

_Yeah, this woman is one hella powerful witch_ , the necromancer mused.

...

The sky had tucked itself under black blankets without their notice, and now the wild blonde guided Cordelia out of the place. This way, the woman wouldn't have to wander around for an hour next time she comes along. And this way, Misty quietly admired the stunning face of the woman, they could spend more time together.

"When are you gonna stop by again?" the younger blonde asked on the edge of the swamp, not ready to let go of Cordelia's hand yet. "Tomorrow?"

The shorter woman let out small chuckles. "Tomorrow is a bit soon. I have paperwork to get done, anyway."

"The day after?"

The desperation in the raspy voice of Misty tugged at her heartstrings, and Cordelia stared into the eyes that appeared darker in the moonlight. And she realized, she was just as unwilling to be let go as the wild blonde was to let her go.

"Come with me, to the coven," Cordelia uttered, before her brain could stop her heart. With her hands in Misty's, she stepped closer until they were breathing the same air. "You'd be safer there. And"--she bit her lip as the ocean eyes of the Stevie Nicks admirer looked back at her with such avid passion--"There's someone I'd like you to meet."

 


End file.
